Having said that, the fine represents just over two weeks of revenue for Google parent company Alphabet, according to Reuters - a sum that "would scarcely dent" the company's current cash reserves of $102.9b.

Margrethe Vestager, EU Antitrust Chief who is in charge of the competition policy, said that the US tech giant has been unlawfully using Android's near-monopoly since 2011 to improve usage of its own search engine and browser and to strengthen its dominant position in general Internet search.

On the other hand, Chrome and Google search are already so popular and widely-used, that even if such a ruling comes into force, the vast majority of the billions of people who are using them on a daily basis will continue to do so in the future. It was clear from the beginning that it was Google's intention to replace Android at some point, we just didn't know exactly when.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of CT tweeted that the fine should "be a wake-up call" to the Federal Trade Commission and "should lead USA enforcers to protect consumers".

Google's CEO says that the free distribution of its own apps is fair and earns the company money, and it won't be in anyone's best interest to change that model.

Android might not remain free because of new EU ruling

The EU gave Google 90 days to come up with remedies that could allow rival search apps and browsers onto more phones.

Margrethe Vestager, the EU's commissioner for competition, said on Wednesday that the decision was made in order to protect European consumers.

European Union regulators announced on Wednesday it was hitting Google with a $5 billion fine for violating antitrust laws by bundling its apps, like Chrome and Google Play, with its Android operating system.

Adding to that, Google also specifically banned these smartphone makers from using rival versions of Android on their devices.

The president appeared to be using the antitrust fine as a salvo in his escalating trade war with the EU.

Vestager was actually asked about Trump on Wednesday, given the context of growing tension between the European Union and US.

The fine is based on the fundamentals of how Google's Android operating system operates.